the october storm

Yesterday morning, the farm was quiet and white, blanketed with about 15 inches of rather heavy, wet snow.  Looking out into the swamp, the light from the rising sun shining through the snow-capped branches was breathtaking.  And even though this snow made Craig's day about ten times harder than it would have been anyway, he managed to start the day in a good mood.  Soon after heading out, he would find that the electric fencing for the hogs was weighted down with snow (and yes, the power is out) so there were hogs wandering about here and there, but all came home for their breakfasts, and by midday the portable generator had the fences hot once again, so all is well with our animals.

Seeing the birches dipping low like this always makes me think of Birches, the poem by Robert Frost.

Chickens are the only animals on this farm who really don't like the snow.  This early in the morning, they were still tucked up on their perches (aside from the few who roost on the running gear at night).  They spent the day in the coop and under the coop, looking suspiciously at the snow surrounding them.

You see, the chickens are supposed to be living in the hoop house for the Winter.  BUT, one obvious problem: the hoop house is still waiting for its cover.  Yes, we are working on it.  I'll show you our recent progress in tomorrow's post.  If this project doesn't get completed this week, we'll have to move on to Plan B (B is for Barn).

This much snow is unusual these days even in the middle of Winter proper.  In October?  Well, it sure is pretty, but having more than a foot of heavy snow fall this far out of season, with plenty of leaves not yet fallen off the trees?  The NYTimes estimate is that more than THREE MILLION people are without power, and no telling when it will be restored.  Five days is the only rumor we've heard so far.

Thank goodness for our Little Red Generator!  Hands down, the best craigslist purchase EVER!

Stay warm, my friends.  And Happy Halloween!

snow day!

(I promise not to bombard you with a photographic winter wonderland tour of the farm every time it snows for the next five months, but when we have a day like this in October? Today, this snow is extraordinary! And still coming down...)

this late october morning, a dusting

I am happy to admit to being one of those really annoying adults who gets unnecessarily excited by snow.  This morning's sun is rising on a fine dusting - the first of the season.  It'll be gone by the time the sun has risen a few degrees higher in the sky, but its here, now!  Oh yes, Winter is on its merry way...

toasty warm

It is finally chilly enough that we have the wood stove going, all day and all night. There are many signs of this season that I love, but the wall of warmth that greets me when I come into the house on a cold day is one of my favorite signs of Autumn, as is the smell of woodsmoke that hangs about the house and lingers in my clothing when I'm away from home.  

This is as much a sign of Autumn for me as are the changing colors of the leaves, and the not-so-slow draining away of that brilliant color from the landscape. Around here, firewood not only provides us with warmth, but it also provides income. Last Autumn and Winter, Craig sold 30 cords of firewood. He brought home from the woods, cut, split, loaded and delivered every single stick of those 30 cords. We used about three cords on top of the wood Craig sold. Have I mentioned that my husband is the hardest working person I've ever met?  

We are lucky to have enough wooded land that all of this firewood comes exclusively from downed trees. Forest floor clean-up, basically. I asked Craig when was the last time he cut down a living tree for firewood. The answer? Never.

Sometimes, people contact Craig about a fallen tree on their property. These massive logs are from an old oak that fell into a hayfield at a nearby horse farm. It took several trips to bring it all home. This particular load managed to wedge itself into the dump wagon.

With some careful prying, a few *choice* words and some back and forth banging with the tractor, the load came free with a crash. These are the moments Thatcher loves. So much exciting action around here (complete with naughty words - yippee)! Our dog Rocky keeps an eye on things, too.

  

Thatcher sees how hard Daddy works, and often pretends that he is working, too. I just love it when he tells me, "Mama, I got lots of work to do around here!" and then stomps off, arms swinging, to attack some sort of task. Here he is hard at work rearranging the log pile. 

Work equals throwing logs every which way,

and making sure the pile looks OK from the top.

Good job, Thatcher! Good job, Daddy! Thanks to you both, we'll be cozy and warm the whole Winter long.

and of course there was a party

For the big Farmer Boy, a Farm Party!

Complete with a tricycle-powered wagon train,

chocolate cupcakes aplenty,

(Thatcher had SIX)

the world's most delicious cake ever (can you say brown butter pumpkin cake without drooling??), which was devoured by the grown-ups only (because we're even greedier piglets than the children, apparently!),

plenty of fresh apple cider

for a cider-slurping baby girl,

much boisterous jumping and somersaulting and dancing in the leaf pile,

and a sun-shining carrot-feeding farm walk to visit the piglets and big pigs and horses.

Can I get away with doing this every October?  Oh, I sure hope so.

birthday boy

This past Saturday, on October Twenty-Second (as he can very proudly tell you himself), Thatcher turned three years old. 

This wonderful, wild boy is three.

This big brother.

This imp.

This sweet soul so full of wonder!

This little part of me.  This little part of Craig.  And a huge part of something all his own.

This mess-making monster.  This sweet, cozy bear.  This amazing boy.

This oh so happy baby.

My Valentine.  My love.

My life.

Happy Birthday, my Thatcher.

berkshire babies

Here is our very first ever litter of purebred Berkshire piglets!  This bunch was born to Lex, one of our original Berkshire sows, on Tuesday morning.  This is her sixth litter.  Lex has been with us since September 2007.  Her baby picture can be found in this post (the rainbow-shaped stripe on her forehead makes her easy to find in the photo - wasn't she darling?).  The daddy for this group is Luki, our Berkshire boar.  This is the first time we've bred our older sows with Luki.  Until recently, he simply wasn't big enough to get the job done with our larger ladies (forgive me, is there a way to describe such things delicately??).

If I may say so myself, I think Lex and Luki make a fine team!

Lex is, without question, our Boss Sow.  As such, she is not always friendly.  So when she stood up and started grumbling (and giving me a MAJOR stink eye) I didn't hang around to argue.  You've had enough of me, Lex?  No problem.  I get the message.

Thank you for giving me a few minutes with your sweet little bunch.

autumn loving

Just one photo today - an Autumnal view from the feed room window.  This week has been a mad dash of getting things crossed off the to-do list before a busy upcoming weekend.  I'll be back soon with photos of a farm first - purebred Berkshire piglets, born this past Tuesday to our sow Lex!...